Hayley Atwell’s New Drama ‘Conviction’ - First Thoughts
So, ABC recently cancelled Agent Carter. It’s a bit of a shame; although it was undoubtedly flawed, the show was a lot of fun, and I’ll be sad to see it go. You can read my review of the first season here; the conclusion I reached was that, though the writing could at times be a bit weak, the show’s chief strength was Hayley Atwell and her performance.
ABC likely agrees with me, it seems, because they’ve recently ordered to series a new legal drama, called Conviction, which stars Hayley Atwell as a lawyer working on cold cases and examining potential miscarriages of justice. The official premise is below:
Hayes Morrison, a lawyer and former first-daughter, is blackmailed into heading the new Conviction Integrity Unit in New York City, which was created to reexamine cases where there is credible suspicion of wrongful conviction. She works with other lawyers, detectives, and forensic experts to identify those wrongfully convicted.
It sounds promising, certainly; I think there’s a lot that could be done with this premise. Obviously, at its core it remains a procedural, but I think that framing it in terms of miscarriages of justice has the potential to this show present the formula in a new light.
ABC has also released a trailer for the first episode, which you can see below:
Immediately I’m getting something of a House vibe from this show; the acerbic lead with a substance abuse problem, whose outlook causes friction with their more idealistic colleagues. I love House, so this has definitely caught my attention; this is a formula that definitely works. I also think it’s great that this is being done with a female protagonist - it’s rare, I think, that we see female characters in that vein, so hopefully Hayes Morrison will be explored with a suitable level of depth. (On top of that, it’s great to see that the supporting cast is generally quite diverse, although admittedly none of them make a particularly significant impression during this short trailer.)
As ever, though, I’ve got a few reservations. Some of the attempts to depict Hayes as being off kilter and ‘damaged’ fall flat - the ‘sleeping with students’ aspect makes her seem kinda awful, as opposed to dangerous, or whatever they’re meant to be going for. The character also comes across as overly sexualised at times; it’s hard to tell whether this will translate as Hayes owning her sexuality, or just being objectified by the narrative. Still, early days yet, and I’m making a fair few assumptions based on some fairly short clips.
Ultimately, though, I’m quite interested in seeing how this goes - it’s certainly caught my attention, and I definitely think it’s worth a watch.
Related:
Why diversity in television is important
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